The Geländewagen may have started life as a straightforward army vehicle, but its modernized successor has become a luxury item and a status symbol reserved only for the wealthy.
It has always been a rugged, analogue “cross country” vehicle, but few that bought it used it as such, which is partly why, in the early 2000s, Mercedes started to build the G-Wagen for the posh, high-end market after introducing the AMG variants.
Nowadays, sales are doing well, even if it has a starting MSRP of $119,900. Thus, the heads of Daimler thought they could benefit even more from the G-Class’ success and plans a “baby G-Wagen”, tentatively named the GLB.
Positioned between the GLA and GLC, the GLB will be underpinned by Merc’s upcoming MFA2 platform, and will reportedly come in both short and long-wheelbase variants.
According to Auto Express, it will be launched in 2019 and offer a few of the G-Class’ traits, including its chunky design language, in a more accessible package. Visually, it will borrow styling cues from the Ener-G Force concept that was unveiled at the 2012 LA Motor Show.
Ener-G Force concept pictured
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